The Raven's Nest

Learning - Chapter I

 As quickly as Autumn realized her grandma was died she ran. Grabbing her bag as she went. Autumn tried to cry, but she couldn't. She hadn't had anything to drink in the last twenty-four hours. "Claudine?" she said into her phone as it buzzed rapidly. "Hi. Thought I'd check in on you. I saw you running down the street, in fact I think I can still see you a bit," Claudine said loudly. Autumn pulled her damp hood over her head. "My grandmother is dead," she sighed. "What! She's dead?" Claudine yelled into the phone. "Yes, I think someone killed her," Autumn said. "You should be calling the police," Claudine said seriously. "There's no evidence except her neck," Autumn growled, "Just come to fourth street, I'll meet you at the park there."

"Autumn!" Claudine yelled, her curly blonde hair jumping around as she ran. "Claudine," Autumn said, lowering her hood. "What happened to her neck?" she asked. "Nothing, I wanted company. I don't think anyone killed her, she was ninety four and she died of old age. I'm not stupid," Autumn said, holding a laughing expression on her face. "Dangerous moon indeed. The news was right," Claudine said sarcastically. "You need to be-" Autumn was cut off by a rustling noise, then a paw stepped out of the bush.

The rest of the body emerged. "A dragon. You don't see many these days," Autumn said. "You don't see any, except now," Claudine said sharply. "Wait a second," Autumn said, noticing a rope around its paw. Autumn knelt down and carefully untied the rope. She pulled on it, then the dragon pulled on it. There was a bag at the end of the rope. Inside Autumn saw four brightly coloured swords.

One had a purple glow and a golden handle. There were golden markings along the blade. The second one had a blue aura and a silvery handle, the markings on this one were in silver, they were also different. One was wrapped in green dust and a bronze handle, there were no markings on this one. The green one was cracked instead, it was the only cracked one. The finale one was a dark red with dancing sparks fluttering around it. It had a faint ruby handle and a darker blade than the rest. It's markings were made with bright rubies.

Two more rustles from the bushes, this time they were humans. "Oh my gosh," said one in a dark jacket. "Agreed," said the other in awe. Autumn recognized the voices. "Blaze? Lucy? What are you guys doing here?" The siblings were known for sneaking around, but not when the moon was out. Blaze laughed. "What are we doing? Doing what we were born to do!" Lucy giggled. Blaze waved his hands around in the air, then stopped after noticing the four bright swords on the ground. "Woah," he said. Lucy picked the purple one up, after deciding it was her favorite colour. It shocked her, but when Autumn picked it up the sword did nothing. Blaze reached for the red one, this one didn't shock him. Lucy picked up the green one, which also shocked her. "I'm left with blue," she sighed. It didn't shock her this time. "I've got a green sword to add to my collection of knick-knacks now," Claudine muttered.

"This is so cool," Blaze said, waving around the sword. A blast of fire came out of it the shape of phoenix and he stopped. "Still fun?" Autumn asked after seeing the flames hit a pond. "Not as much," he mumbled. "Well, we should go now," Claudine said, "It's getting late." But the dragon had other ideas. It spread out it's silvery wings, until it's wingspan looked like it was three meters. It's sharp eyes were now fixed on the four of them. It easy to tell it was a female by it's voice.

"You will not leave until I have delivered the prophecy!" she screeched. "Okay, gosh, what is it. Something spooky, huh?" Lucy asked. The dragon went ghosty, it tightened its wings against its sides and roared. "Four children, born of night, shall mark the world of its truths," the dragon roared. It's ghostly figure turned into a billion sparkles, then gathered together and exploded again. "Someone's got a crab on their leg," Blaze muttered. "Are you sure this is real? Or are we just dreaming?" Autumn said, trying to lighten the conversation. Lucy pinched Blaze, and Blaze pinched her back. "Real," they said at the same time. Autumn sighed.

"Okay, we were all born at night. Right?" Autumn asked. "Yes," they all replied. "Did anyone have a mark of truth?" Autumn asked. "What is that?" Claudine muttered. "I don't know," Autumn shrugged. "I have a problem with telling people secrets. I can't keep a secret. I can't!" Blaze said. "Well, that's a start," Autumn sighed, "Anyone know what these mean?" Everyone shrugged except Claudine. "We could check Mr. Losendale. He's a teacher," she said. Each one of them nodded their heads in agreement. "Okay then," Autumn said.

"Teacher?" Claudine prodded at the door. "Come in," he said. They dragged the bag into the classroom. Carefully pulling out each sword, they laid them in the middle of the classroom. "You cannot bring swords in here!" he growled. "We need you to read these. Can you?" Autumn asked. "Okay, fine then. Extra homework though," he said. They moaned. "This purple one says Alpha. The green one says Beta. This one is my favorite. It says warrior in the cracks. Oh and this red one. Oh, what fine craftsmanship," he eyed the red one, "It says Omega." Autumn paused. "Those are all dog names, well pack names," she said. "I'm alpha. Claudine you're a warrior. Lucy, you're the beta, and Blaze, your the omega," Autumn said. "Cool! I like my name. Omega," Blaze smirked. "Blaze, an omega is lowest in a wolf pack. You're a servant and a football," Autumn growled. Everyone looked at her weirdly. "Am I the only one out of us in animal studies?" she asked. They nodded.

Groaning at the pile of homework the history teacher gave them, the group went outside and started talking. "I was reading a book about myths, and it talked about a similar prophecy. Then it talked about this prophecy, and about something called The Raven's Nest," Autumn said, dropping a leather book onto the table. "So we're going to find this nest?" Claudine asked, "Yep!"

"How do we escape school? The next break isn't for months," Blaze moaned. "I know how!" Claudine said, "Each one of us will ask to use the bathroom in a class nobody else in this group is in. Then we'll sneak to the back door, and leave. We will go to the nearest crosswalk and run for our lives across it." Autumn looked surprised. "That's not to bad. Time to put it to work," Lucy beat Autumn to the words. "Okay Blaze, you have extra math for some reason. During that time Claudine has creative writing, and I have animal studies. Lucy you have-" Autumn started, "What do you have Lucy?" Lucy stared at her. "I have a free period, my musical arts teacher got sick, and they couldn't find a substitute," she said. "Okay, perfect. You won't even ask to use the bathroom," Autumn said. The bell rung. "Let's go."

"Mrs. Hassei? May I use the bathroom?" Claudine asked. "Yes, make it quick though," the creative writing teacher said.

"Ms. Joy?" asked Blaze, "Can I use the bathroom?" The teacher nodded, and Blaze left the room.

"Can I use the restroom Mr. Usio?" Autumn asked. "Yes," he replied. Autumn got up from her chair and started walking towards the exit.

"Lucy!" whispered Claudine. "Open it!" Lucy growled quietly. Claudine unhooked the latch, and they all ran outside. "Go!" Blaze ran to the crosswalk, everyone did. Leaping towards the end, they had escaped.